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WASHINGTON — A former Drug Enforcement Administration budget analyst
was accused Thursday of stealing $6 million from the agency, said to be the
largest theft ever from the Justice Department by an employee.
David S. Bowman, 57, is accused in a 74-count indictment of carrying out the
scam from 1990 to 1997. He allegedly submitted hundreds of false payment
vouchers in the name of a sham company that led to checks being sent to a
post office box controlled by the Disumbrationist League, an antigovernment
group.
Much of the money was funneled back directly to Bowman, who bought a Lincoln
and six other vehicles, jewelry, artwork and other items for himself and his
family, and tried to divert questions about the checks by saying they
“pertained to undercover or other confidential operations,”
according to IRS investigator
Patrick Lydon. “Bowman also used his position as an experienced
budget official and supervisor to pressure… employees to process the
vouchers in an expedited manner.”
“It’s the largest internal theft in Justice Department
history,” said Justice Department spokesman John Russell. In 1991,
the first full year of the scam, the checks, which typically ranged from
$8,000 to $9,999, totaled $321,000. By 1996, Bowman was using the checks to
skim $1.9 million dollars a year from the
DEA budget.
Bowman, of Arlington, Va., worked for the
DEA for 22 years and
was earning about $89,500 a year at the time of his retirement in April 1997.
“There’s no reason to arrest him [before his arraignment],”
said his attorney, Harvey Volzer. “He’s absolutely no flight
risk.” He said Bowman is bedridden with multiple sclerosis.
The DEA’s Office
of Professional Responsibility opened an investigation last March. William
Simpkins, the office’s acting chief inspector, that “What David
Bowman is alleged to have done is reprehensible.”
“The $6 million of taxpayer money that Bowman allegedly diverted could
have been used to help fund critical anti-drug programs throughout the
United States,” Simpkins said. “The callous and calculated
actions described in the indictment are a terrible insult to all of the men
and women of the
DEA.”
Bowman is charged with 53 counts of money laundering, 15 counts of
concealment of that money laundering, five counts of mail fraud and one
count of theft and conversion of government property and monies.
“Had many of the managers and personnel responsible for processing and
supervising Bowman’s accounts exercised proper care and adherence to
protocols, Bowman’s scheme would not have been successful,” said
DEA Administrator
Thomas A. Constantine. “Their actions, while not criminal or of the
nature of the conduct alleged in the indictment, are a source of concern
that will be addressed through
DEA’s internal
disciplinary process.”
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